Equipment for tube and pipe production is an essential component of your steel processing plant. This equipment may include accumulators, coil cars, flying saws, uncoilers, and more.

Since these machines are critical to your production process, it’s important that challenges that arrive are handled efficiently. If not, you’ll experience greater downtime and increased maintenance costs.

Let’s break down three of the most common challenges in steel entry equipment for coiled strip processing—along with potential solutions to overcome them.

1. Unsafe Equipment

Old steel processing equipment can be unsafe due to its hands-on nature. This equipment requires a lot of manual labor, which can lead to accidents, injuries, and even fatalities. Operators are exposed to hazards such as cuts, burns, and crushing injuries.

Solution: The solution to this problem is to invest in automated equipment for steel processing. This meets modern safety standards and significantly reduces the risk of accidents and injuries, as workers do not need to be in contact with the strip to operate the equipment.

2. Coil Clockspring

One of the major issues faced in the strip processing process is that the coils tend to unwind when the band holding them is cut off. This can result in significant damage to the material and cause safety hazards for the operators. The issue occurs due to the release of stored energy in the coiled material, which causes it to unwind rapidly. As a result, this problem can lead to loss of material and reduced efficiency in the production process.

Solution: To address this problem, a solution has been developed in the form of the Coil Snubber. The Coil Snubber is an option on uncoilers that holds the leading strip edge in place, allowing the operator to safely cut and remove the band. This helps prevent the sudden release of stored energy and reduces the risk of injury to the operator. The Coil Snubber also ensures that the material remains in good condition and reduces waste, thereby improving the efficiency of the production process. Overall, the Coil Snubber has proven to be an effective solution for the problem of coils unwinding during the band cutting process.

3. Unacceptable Cut Quality

A common issue encountered in tube and pipe production is that the end of the tube is cut with a dimple-creating shear. This can lead to a host of problems when further processing the tubing. Additionally, this can result in material waste, increased downtime, and reduced efficiency in the production process.

Solution: To address this problem, the MTM flying cold saw has been developed as a solution. The saw is a high-speed cutting machine that can deliver a fast, straight, and clean cut to the end of the tube. It is designed to operate at high speeds and can make precise cuts to the material, ensuring that the end of the tube is c ready for further processing. Through years of experience and design the MTM flying saw has been designed to maintain high mill speeds so you aren’t sacrificing speed for cut quality. The MTM flying cut-off machine is also highly automated, and operator friendly with its ICON based HMI. Overall, the MTM flying csaw has proven to be an effective solution for the problem of unacceptable cuts at the end of your tube mill.

Partner with the right experts

At Kent Corporation, our complete line of tube production equipment is designed to limit your downtime and minimize material waste. Our coiled strip processing equipment is customized to fit your specifications and integrate seamlessly within your production line.

When you partner with Kent, you’ll get innovative equipment backed by decades of expertise. Contact us today to learn more.